After deliberating for uhm, almost four years now… I finally made the decision to extract my double impacted teeth and had surgery this morning. It wasn’t so much the pain or hassle which I’d been avoiding, but the friggin’ COST!!! Man, dentists seriously make a shitload of money anywhere in the world. I consulted with three different dental surgeons (in three different countries even) and I would’ve gone with my regular dentist who also happens to be an excellent surgeon: Dr. Grace Lee-Hin, DDS (I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HER!). Except that I am away from NYC at the moment so I made peace with myself, and my savings account, to go under the knife at Specialist Dental Group in Singapore.
I gotta say the procedure went uneventfully – amen for that (!!!). I opted for sedation (who wouldn’t?!?) so the anesthetist – extra grand right there, ouch – inserted a couple of fine needles into the back of my right hand and before I knew what hit me, I was out like a light. So *THIS* is what people refer to when they say they ‘blacked out’ or ‘passed out’. Revived from the twilight zone and having neither recollection of what happened, nor sense of space, time and dimension – I managed to sober up afterwards, so to speak, and was merrily chauffeured home, with a small little plastic container of my extracted teeth. End of nice, deep, undisturbed nap. I was informed later that the surgery had taken about two hours.
The staff at the dental office was great. Everyone was courteous, kind, professional and I was made to feel very comfortable. I think I really appreciated that temporary ‘time out’ when I was totally unconscious. I was worried that once the anesthesia wore off, the pain would be intolerable but so far I’m managing alright. Frankly I’m much more distressed by the liquid/soft diet which I have to be on for at least a week, while the wound recovers. Arghhh!!! Liquid/soft diet. :| Uh huh, can you feel my true pain?
Back when I had to endure orthodontics treatment for three long and painful years, I normally drank Ensure after my ortho appointment. It helped to curb my hunger when I was unable to chew for the first two days, after which I then fed myself lots of homemade steamed cod w/ garlic mashed potato. Sometimes mashed sweet potato or dried scallop congee, homemade as well. Fancy-schmancy Moonberry. }:)
But hey, would you have expected any less from me? Anyhoo, I don’t have plans to be cooking this week so I’ll have to get myself out there and find me some worthy liquid/soft diet that can satisfy the tastebuds.
PRE-SURGERY VISUAL TRAUMA
Them ugly motherfuckers (circled in red) just hafta go! Kinda visibly messing up the result of my ortho treatment if they weren’t yanked out pronto.
POST-SURGERY VISUAL TRAUMA
The ‘souveniers’ I got. They were pretty gross and had been cut up into pieces during extraction. There were a couple of pieces which still had like, gum stuck to them. YES, FLESH!!!! MYFLESH!!! *sick*
Anyway, on a lighter note, while I’m riding on painkillers now (Yo, how come I didn’t get those “designer” drugs that allegedly can make you high as a kite!?!?), I present you…
Conversation with a 6-yr old
(She had recently lost her milk toof.)
Me: So… do you think I should sell my teeth to the Tooth Fairy? You got money last time, right?
6-yr old: I put my tooth under the pillow and the next day you know what happened?
Me: You told me you found $2 under the pillow, right?
6-yr old: No, it was $10!!! The Tooth Fairy gave me $10!!!
Me: Hmm, my teeth are super bloody though. I don’t think the Tooth Fairy will want to buy them…
6-yr old: Then you should wash the teeth first before putting under your pillow.
Me: Mehhh, I dunno… *feigning uncertainty* My teeth are kinda big-sized, I don’t think she’ll want them. I heard the Tooth Fairy only collects baby teeth anyway.
Hah, right on!
Boys and girls, this has been a grotesque post so I promise I’ll write a much more visually-pleasing one next. And soon. Hope you and your teeth are well.
